Louis' Love Potion Issue
by Kinsie
Summary: Louis and Maddie have been best friends since they were sorted together first year. When Valentine's Day rolls around this year however, things get a bit shaky with Louis becoming the victim of a love potion. The fallout leaves their group dynamics shaken up and Louis is worried he'll lose more than just his free will.


**Author's Note:** Hello readers! This has been sitting on my computer for a while, so I figured I would put it. This is in no way related to _Rose's Secret_ or _Happy Birthday Al_ , though there may be a familiar name or two. Thanks for reading!

 **Disclaimer:** I am a broke college student who owns nothing but the plot and a couple OC's.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you," Madeline said, gesturing to the goblet of pumpkin juice Louis was raising to his lips.

"Why not?" he asked skeptically, raising one slim blond eyebrow.

"LOUIS!" James yelled from where he, Frank, and Danielle had burst into the great hall. Frank looked panicked and Danielle appeared to be doubled over with laughter as she tried to keep up with the others.

"What on earth is going on?" he looked at his best friend in consternation and Madeline just shrugged before adding that she wanted it to be known that she said not to drink it first.

"Louis! Don't eat or drink anything!" James said, collapsing in the seat across from his fellow sixth years.

"Have you lot played a Valentine's prank without me? I thought we were just charming the blackboards tonight?" Louis said, still very confused about the normal looking pumpkin juice sitting in front of him. Maddie waved her wand over the goblet and it turned a faint red color before a small heart shaped cloud of smoke rose from the top.

"Tell me that isn't want I think it was," Louis said, feeling slightly ill.

"Afraid we can't mate," Frank said.

"I'm guessing you know who it was?" he said wearily as he checked all of the food around him for further contamination.

"Not specifically, it was just some gossip we heard," Danielle said, casting a speculative look around.

"It was Thalia McLaggen," Madeline said, taking another bite of her toast.

"How do you know that?" James asked.

"She was too nice this morning," she said, "plus she's the only one that's been close enough to the juice that would do that."

"She was too nice?" Frank said skeptically.

"Yes," Madeline answered.

"Maddie, you can't accuse someone of dosing someone with love potion because they were too nice," Danielle said.

"Mads is right, this is a disaster," Louis said, putting his head down on the desk with disgust.

"Why is she right?" James asked.

"Thalia has been asking me out since we were in third year and I always turn her down. Plus, she's usually a right cow to Maddie. This morning she said something weird about having a good Valentine's Day tomorrow and it was odd, but I can't remember exactly what she said," Louis explained in a grumbling sort of way due to his mouth facing the top of the table.

The others agreed and hastily finished eating before classes began. They only had one day left before the holiday of hearts and cheesy cards as Danielle had dubbed it and they still had to work out the finer points of the prank they wanted to pull that evening. Binns' class really was the best place for that because the ghost was as clueless as he was dry. The day went by in a rush of plans and schoolwork before they had to go to quidditch practice. Dominique and Augusta were already on the field when the others arrived.

Danielle pulled off a spectacular save in the middle of practice that had everyone flying high for the rest of practice and talking excitedly about the upcoming match. It would be Dominique and Augusta's last match of the season and the last time they could win the quidditch cup. The beater duo had been together since their third year and were sad about the end of their last season approaching. Louis knew his sister was feeling sentimental, so he kept the love potion issue from getting to her at practice. As it was, they had all decided not to let anyone know in case Thalia decided to try again. He would have to do something, but was not sure what the best course of action would be. Since he had no proof, he could not go to a professor or the headmistress, but he could not just do nothing either.

Madeline was enjoying a good long shower to get the mud out of her long hair as she had incited a mud fight near the end of practice. At the time, it had been great fun, but now that she had silty, black ooze coating her dark blonde hair, she was rethinking her choice of amusement. She heard the two seventh years chatting before heading out of the locker room and questioned again the decision not to tell Dominique about the pumpkin juice incident. She would know what to do. It was not her call though, so she stuck with what Louis wanted.

"Mads, are you almost done?" Danielle called from the locker area.

"Yeah, I just had to get the mud out of my hair," she called back before turning the water off.

"It's your own fault you know," Danielle said chuckling.

"I didn't think he would tackle me to the ground," she responded a bit exasperatedly as she pulled her clothing on.

"You levitated a pile of mud bigger than yourself and dropped it on Louis' head," Danielle said, "What did you expect?"

"I thought I could outrun him," Maddie said as she chucked her arm guards into her locker.

"Yeah?" Danielle asked from her seat on the bench, clearly dubious about this.

"Yeah and I would have been able to if James and Frank hadn't cut me off," Maddie said, though it came out muffled as she was pulling her jumper over her head.

"His legs are twice as long as yours Mads. I think he would have caught up no matter what," Danielle said with a snort.

"Apparently I did not think it through very well, but you've got to admit it was funny to see him looking all bewildered like that," Maddie said with a laugh.

"It's always a treat," Danielle said.

The two girls walked out of the changing room to meet the guys who had waited on them. Danielle thought Maddie and Louis were amusing to watch and bet on with Frank and James. This was just the latest episode in Maddie's effort to make Louis look as ridiculous as possible. She had decided when they were in second year or so that he always looked too put together and this was where they found themselves. They were sixteen years old and throwing mud at each other. Danielle loved Maddie because she was never content to let a single day go by without something fun or exciting, even if it meant dropping a ton of mud on Louis and wrecking his effortlessly perfect, windswept hair.

"You couldn't have just thrown the snow that was on the ground? You had to dig underneath it?" Louis asked with a raised brow as he threw an arm companionably over Maddie's shoulder.

"Where would the fun have been in that?" she asked.

"Well when you put it that way," he said with facetious understanding.

"Prat," she said, sticking out her tongue.

"Watch out Maddie, your face is going to get stuck that way," James teased.

"It never has before, I don't see why it would any other time," she shot back.

"There's a first time for everything Mads," Frank said.

The bickering lasted all the way up to the castle, but James was more focused on how they were going to charm all of the blackboards in the castle without detection. He had decided that splitting up was really the only option. One team would have the map and the other would have the cloak. He and Louis would hold each item as they were the only family members. Whenever Al joined them, he took over possession, but Louis took priority over the other family members as far as James was concerned. If he gave the cloak to Louis, he and Maddie could probably make it work without showing their feet because the girl was small. She barely made it to their shoulders and even Danielle was a half head taller than her. He, Frank, and Danielle would use the map and focus on the rooms located near secret passages. When they arrived at the great hall for dinner, James spotted trouble brewing and moved to where his brother and Scorpius were standing toe to toe with a sixth year Ravenclaw named Derrick Hannover. Why the fourth years had decided to take on a beater two years older than them was beyond him.

"Stay away from her if you know what's good for you," Al said angrily. James knew that look and it never boded well for anyone.

"Really? What are you going to do about it?" Hannover questioned.

"If you get within ten feet of her tomorrow you'll regret it," Scorpius said, his hands balled into fists at his side.

"What's all the ruckus?" James said, playing it off as a funny imitation of one of the stuffier professors.

"Potter, your brother and his girlfriend here are mental," Hannover said, clearly exasperated at having to deal with the two hotheads.

"I'll deal with it," James said with a sigh. He did not like having to clean up Al's messes and this was just the latest in a slew of the same kind of spill. As soon as the sixth year walked away, the two boys started talking at once only to be cut off by James.

"James, he said-"

"But the way he was looking at her-"

"Shut it, both of you! I don't care how many people want to ask Rosie out, it isn't your business to go about threatening random blokes. How do you even know he was going to ask her out? Remember the last time with Nelson when you heard a rumor and shot off without thinking?" James said angrily. Rose would probably give them an earful too when she heard about it.

Both boys grumbled a bit and had some story about overhearing something in the hallway, but neither would admit what was said or who exactly said it. James just shook his head and went over to where the others were sitting.

"Another would be beau for Rosie?" Danielle asked sympathetically.

"Scorpius needs to just ask her out so they can stop all this nonsense about threatening blokes that are twice their size," James said, pulling a plate toward himself.

"Are you gonna tell Rosie?" Louis asked.

"Yeah, I've got to. She's blackmailing me over it," he said with a roll of his eyes, "Where's Frank gotten to?"

"He said something about needing to talk to Rox about something," Maddie answered, nodding down the table at the pair in question.

"Probably talking about fireworks again," Louis said before checking his food for any potions.

"No one has been by here since you put it on your plate," Maddie said with a laugh.

He mumbled something about never being too sure before shoveling food into his mouth in true Weasley fashion. Maddie exchanged amused looks with Danielle before tucking into her meal as well. She was fairly certain that Frank was asking Roxanne to spend the next evening with him, but she was not completely certain. She also was not sure what the fifth year would say when her brother was around. If Frank had asked her in private, the answer would have been yes without a doubt, but in the middle of dinner with her cousins and brother surrounding her?

Her reverie was cut short by Louis' hand nudging her leg. She shrugged at him and began to eat again. Frank returned with an unreadable expression and Maddie resolved to talk to him later about it. If all went well with the stunt they were going to pull, he was going to be high on adrenaline and that always meant he would spill something interesting. For the remainder of dinner though, they chatted and threw bits of food at Al and Scorpius who were repentant looking in the face of Rose's glower across from them with her friend Delia.

After the meal, all five moved together as carefree as could be, trying to avoid alerting any teachers to the mischief that was going to be taking place. Louis was trying to keep from searching the hall for Thalia. He felt like he was being watched and assumed it was her. It usually was. It always felt like he was being watched and he did not like it no matter how used to it he got. Maddie nudged him with her elbow and he put a smile back on. The effect was instantaneous. She smiled back in a goofy, sparkly kind of way for about two seconds and then he got shoved toward James and Frank without ceremony. Maddie was the only one he enjoyed using his veela blood on because it was just so entertaining. Besides, he owed her for the mud incident. Stunning her was his way of provoking an attack like the one on the pitch. He watched her loop arms with Danielle and caught up to James to have a good laugh about it.

"You're playing with fire mate," James said, having watched the incident.

"It's Maddie, when's she ever been mad at me?" Louis asked.

"It's bound to happen sometime," James said certainly.

"Longbottom, want to weigh in on this?" Louis asked, looking for backup.

"Go make sure she isn't mad. The two of you are together for the prank tonight," Frank said, the epitome of practicality.

"Bugger," Louis said.

The group made their way to the unused classroom they had taken as their own during their first year. It was located in a dingy hall filled with cobwebs and dust, though their room looked pristine thanks to a word to the house elves. Maddie and Danielle had moved so far ahead of the boys that they arrived a few minutes ahead of them. While Danielle drew out battle plans on the board, Maddie sat cross legged on top of one of the desks and watched. She was off in another world, thinking about the Frank and Rox dilemma or if there even was one. For all she knew, he really was talking to her about fireworks.

The guys finally arrived and she was knocked back into reality when she felt Louis' chin on top of her head and his hands on her shoulders. She leaned into him to show she was not upset about the smiling thing, though he knew she hated it when he dazzled her like that. They sat that way until James started talking and Maddie had fallen back into thoughts of some other nature. When she felt Louis shift, everyone else was up and moving around and James was handing Louis the cloak. He also gave him a weird look, but Maddie was sure it had something to do with something she had missed. It usually did.

As usual, the prank went off without any major mishaps. There were a few close calls for both groups, the worst involving James and Danielle almost getting caught by Professor Longbottom in a position that would have incited a rather terrible detention. Frank thought the whole thing was very funny seeing as he had found a better hiding place that did not involve standing quite so close together in a broom cupboard. For their part, Louis and Maddie had to scrunch under the cloak only twice. The second time though, Louis only just managed to get the cloak over them before the ancient runes professor walked in.

They all stumbled into the common room around one and Frank was too wired to think about sleep. It looked like Maddie was in the same boat as she had not accompanied Danielle upstairs. When it was just the pair of them left in the common room, Frank caught the smaller girl looking very contemplative. That in and of itself was not odd, though it was a bit off putting when the gaze was trained on him.

"Did you ask Rox out?" she asked.

"What are you on about?" he asked, feeling a bit panicked.

"When you went to talk to her about fireworks at dinner tonight," she said expectantly.

"Mads, leave it alone," he said, starting to rise from his seat.

"You should have asked her when she was alone. She gets nervous when Fred and the others are around," she said, moving to cut him off.

"Madeline, I said leave it," he said harshly.

"Frank," Maddie started, but was cut off abruptly.

"When you finally get Louis to notice you, maybe you can try to give me advice, but until then, mind your own business. I'm going to bed," he said, storming up the staircase.

He immediately felt bad for what he had said, but there was no taking it back now that it was said. Frank did not think he would ever be able to forget the look on her face though. It would take a lot of groveling to fix this. It was a problem for tomorrow though. For now, he was going to wallow and hope to fall asleep.

The next morning brought a day that Louis dreaded. There was always a pile of cards and treats at the end of his bed from people he did not know from Merlin. He always split the treats with James, Frank, and their fellow sixth years Justin Harmon and Ethan Ames. Ethan and Justin were a good sort, though they preferred to study than pull pranks. They always enjoyed the outcome though and never got upset when the others woke them when they came in late. This Valentine's Day was the same as the others before it. Cards and chocolates were coming out of his ears and Louis was ready to explode. He knew Dominique had the same situation in her dorm, but she never seemed quite as upset about it. Victoire did not really have to worry about it after her fifth year because Teddy made it very clear if anyone so much as looked at her that day without her permission they may not live to regret it.

"What'd you get for Mads this year?" James asked, munching on a chocolate frog.

"I got her and Danielle flowers," he said with a yawn. When they were in third year, the three of them had overheard the girls lamenting their lack of valentines, so every year they sent a gift at lunch.

"But nothing extra?" James asked.

"No? Am I going to look bad when you two give your presents?" Louis asked.

"I got them some stuffed bears, I think you're good," James said with a laugh.

"Frank?" Louis asked. Their usually boisterous friend had been quiet that morning.

"Just some chocolates," he answered.

"How did it go yesterday?" James asked nonchalantly.

"Let's not talk about it," Frank answered morosely.

James let the conversation go, though he knew that Frank had been working up to asking Roxanne out for ages. He had been so sure she would say yes. When they made their way downstairs to the common room, the girls were waiting for them. What none of them saw was that Thalia was too. Until she jumped up and threw herself at Louis of course. It was so comical that he could not help but laugh at the spectacle. The blond had been caught off guard and barely managed to stay on his feet and evade the girl's mouth which was insistently trying to reach his. She reminded James of a monkey trying to climb a tree in order to get the ripest banana.

"Get off of me!" Louis yelled, trying to free himself from the barnacle that had attached itself to him.

"But don't you love me?!" Thalia wailed.

"NO! GET OFF!" he yelled.

James was crying from laughing at this point and he could not seem to make himself move to his friend's defense. Danielle appeared to be in the same boat while Maddie looked on with amusement and Frank looked to be contemplating stepping in. Before he could though, Louis had detached the raving girl from his body and moved to where the others were standing.

"But Louis!" Thalia's eyes started watering up. She made a pitiable picture sitting in a heap on the floor. Her friends rushed over, glaring at the group and yelling at them.

"She attacked me! What the bloody hell did you want me to do?!" Louis yelled as her friend Cynthia got in his face about it.

"Louis, let's go," Maddie said as she strode over, holding her hand out for him to take. James was not sure if he was going to take it for a moment, but he finally grasped the smaller girl's offered fingers. The others followed behind the pair and left the conniving girl with her friends.

Louis could not believe it. He was convinced that the day could not get worse. Upon arrival at the great hall though, he saw just how wrong he was. As soon as their group entered the hall, there was an uptake of whispers and people pointing. Surely, the news could not have travelled that quickly. Perhaps James and Danielle were doing something noteworthy behind them and that was it. They sat and Dominique came over quickly.

"Well you do know how to make a splash," she commented.

"How did they hear about it this fast?" he lamented.

"Well, you were holding hands when you walked it. That's usually a good indicator," she said laughing.

"What are you talking about?" Louis said, thoroughly confused.

"What are _you_ talking about?" she questioned.

"Thalia jumped me this morning after trying to give me a love potion yesterday," he said slowly.

"Well, no one seems to know about that yet," Dominique said in a hurried cheery voice before trying to scoot away.

"Dom, what the hell is going on? It's been a shit morning and this is not helping," Louis said, looking like he might start pulling his hair out.

"Lou, you walked into the great hall on Valentine's Day holding hands with Maddie who everyone thinks you've been secretly dating since you were thirteen. Do the math," she said, no unkindly.

"Bloody hell," he said. He looked at Maddie, but she seemed unaffected by the news. She was always so reliable and stable, he was lucky to have her.

"I'm really sorry Mads," he told her, trying to grab her hand. She moved out of the way though, which stung a bit. They had always had an affectionate friendship.

"It's all good. I think I'm going to go to the library and finish up that essay for ancient runes," she said easily, rising from her seat between Louis and James.

"Mads," Louis said, trying to stop her.

"I'll talk to you later Louis," she said, tossing the strap of her bag over her shoulder and smiling at him before leaving. This set off another round of whispering and Louis just set his head against the table.

Frank felt awful. After what he had said to Maddie last night, this was not the ideal way to start the day. He had planned on apologizing the first chance he got and this looked as good an opportunity as any. He got up and made to follow her out of the hall. When James looked at him with a raised eyebrow he just waved his friend off and told him he would see him in class. Danielle had not noticed as she was trying to talk Louis into going to class. He found Maddie in the library a few minutes later with her nose in a book at one of the back tables. When he sat down she looked up and frowned.

"Please go away," she said, turning back to her book.

"Mads," he started but she cut him off.

"I'm minding my own business, you should do the same," she threw his words from the night before back at him casually, her eyes never leaving the page they were skimming.

"I wanted to apologize. As soon as I said that lasts night I was sorry. Please forgive me Mads?" he said pleadingly.

"Frank, it's been a long day already and it's not even eight, please just go away," she said with weary finality.

"No," he said, taking the book out of her hands. When it was gone from in front of her face, he saw that her eyes were full of tears and felt even worse if that were possible.

"Frank," she said trying to get her book back. Instead, he moved to where she was sitting and gave her a hug. She was easy to fold into his arms with her being so slight.

"It's okay Mads," he said quietly while she cried silently.

Louis had finally gotten up from the table, unable to listen to all the whispers around him and told James and Danielle that he would see them in class. They offered to go with him, but he just wanted to find Maddie. She always knew just what to say to get his head back on straight. When he spotted Frank, he started over to see if his friend had seen her, but instead, found that Maddie was clinging to him and she was crying. Frank was whispering something to her and Louis felt like he was intruding on something very private, so he turned and walked away. He wandered the halls aimlessly until it was time to be in class.

Ancient runes felt like a chore that day. Usually it was great, but even the charms they had worked on the blackboards failed to give him a laugh that morning. Maddie sat equally silent next to him while the professor's attempts at writing on the board produced curlicue lettering and doodles of hearts and cupids. Louis did not know what to say to her. Throughout their friendship, he had only seen her cry twice. Once was when she broke her arm in a quidditch game during fourth year and the other was when Chester Broderick had broken up with her in their fifth year. Even those times had only been a few tears though. What he had seen in the library was water streaming down her face and she looked utterly miserable. It did not help that everyone in the class kept staring at them and either snickering or whispering obnoxiously.

Maddie was planning on dipping into her skiving snackbox so that she could avoid the rest of the day and all the ridiculous rumors that were swirling about. As soon as they got out to the hallway, it became apparent that the incident in the common room had become common knowledge and now there were all sorts of wild stories about Louis, Thalia, and her being in a love triangle and all sorts of nonsense. She really, really hated Valentine's Day.

Normally, she did not get worked up about things, but between the scene with Frank the night before, the completely sleepless night she had spent trying to figure out if he was right, and the morning that followed, she was feeling overwhelmed. When Frank had insinuated that she liked Louis, Maddie was rather affronted. She was fairly sure that was something she would realize on her own. But then, when Thalia had jumped him the next morning, it was not the amusement that she normally would have felt. Rather, she wanted to throw the other girl into a oubliette and hope she never emerged. There was no way to construe that as anything but jealousy. Then he had to be completely oblivious when they had walked into the hall. She had thought that maybe he just did not care about the whispering. It became apparent she was wrong when Dominique had explained things to her thick younger brother. And then Frank came to apologize and all she had wanted was for Louis to find her and tell her that everything would be fine. Instead, she let Frank do it and had felt better after. That was, until she was sitting next to Louis listening to their classmates speculate more.

"I'm skiving off the rest of the day," she whispered to Danielle who was walking next to her on their way to the common room for their free period.

"Want company?" she asked.

"Sure," Maddie welcomed the distraction.

By the end of the day, Danielle was certain that she had made the right choice in not going to class that day. Maddie was back to her usual self and they were currently lounging on the comfy couch in the common room eating the chocolates that Frank had sent to them. Somehow the owls had found them where they were eating in the kitchens and delivered their boys' gifts. Some of the Weasley/Potter crowd was sitting on the other furniture around them. Danielle saw Roxanne shooting Maddie weird looks, but wrote it off as curiosity regarding the rumors that were no doubt still circulating. Molly, acting as head girl, had started taking points off from anyone who mentioned it in the common room an hour or two before, making it a taboo topic. No way was Roxanne going to say anything outright with Molly sitting two seats down from her.

When the boys finally entered the common room, Danielle was a bit amused to see them immediately scanning the room. She waved at them to indicate where the large group of redheads were, though how they had missed them was anyone's guess.

"What a day," James said with a sigh as he collapsed next to her. Danielle expected Louis to sit in the empty spot next to Maddie, but instead he sat next to Dom across the circle and Frank moved to the couch with them.

"Do you know that the four of you are the most talked about people in the school right now? You beat out Tori Hannigan and Adrian Montgomery almost shagging in the corridor," Lucy said bluntly. Tact never was her strong suit.

"I thought Tori was dating Adrian's brother," Frank's sister Alice commented.

"She got them confused," Lucy said with a giggle. The Montgomery twins were always switching places, but Danielle doubted that Roger was going to appreciate the joke this time.

"Who's the unlucky fourth?" Danielle asked.

"That would be me," Frank said, throwing his arm around Maddie's shoulders, "Apparently, Mads and I have been shagging behind Louis' back for ages now even though he's been seeing Thalia and her at the same time."

"Are you kidding me?" she sputtered and looked at Maddie who looked astonished.

"How do they come up with this stuff?" Danielle asked with a laugh.

"Someone saw them in the library this morning," Louis said, sounding tired.

"It's not like they were snogging or anything," Danielle snorted dismissively. Maddie had explained the fight to her earlier when she insisted on knowing what was wrong with her. Maddie did not skip class usually.

"According to more than one source they've been having a torrid affair between the book shelves," James said with a snicker.

"People need to mind their own bloody business," Maddie said, resting her head on Frank's shoulder.

Frank was the only one that noticed how abruptly Roxanne rose from her seat, though Lucy and Alice were not far behind her. They tossed goodbyes behind their shoulders and Frank felt his stomach twist. She would not even sit in a group with him for any length of time. He should have just kept his mouth shut and never told her how he felt. Life would have been simpler then.

"Alright you lot, I've got a date to get ready for. Try to keep out of trouble," James said with a broad wink.

"Who agreed to go out with you?" Al asked incredulously.

"He tricked me into it," Danielle answered before rising to get a jumper from her dorm.

"You could not find time to tell me that when we were alone together all day?" Maddie asked.

"You were the priority hun," Danielle said teasingly.

Everyone broke off into smaller groups as those who had dates went off to meet people. Soon, there was just a handful of people left and Roxanne was making her way back downstairs to retrieve her herbology book. Before she made it all the way though, she overheard her brother asking Frank for a word.

"What's up Fred?" the sixth year asked.

"You need to leave off messing with Rox," her brother said in a tone that was far from his usual humorous one.

"I was never messing with her and she made it quite clear that she wanted nothing to do with me, so you don't have to worry about it Fred," Frank said, sounding wearier than he had a moment ago.

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked, clearly not having expected that response.

"I asked her out yesterday and she turned me down flat, so there isn't anything to worry about," Frank said, "I'm going to go to bed now if that's all."

"That doesn't make any sense, she's crazy about you," Fred said, far more confused that he had been before.

"Well, that isn't how she felt yesterday. Maybe she changed her mind," Frank said.

"But you aren't with Maddie, right?" Fred asked.

"Of course not! I was an arse to her over your sister the night before so I went to apologize and she was crying. Since when is it a crime to try to be there for someone!" Frank had clearly had enough of being questioned about the Maddie and Louis situation and Roxanne heard him storming up the boys' staircase form where she was hiding in the shadows at the top of her own stairs.

Roxanne leaned heavily against the railing and tried to get her head on straight. Why had she panicked? If she had just kept a cool head, she and Frank would be cozied up in some classroom right now probably eating cheesecake or talking about fireworks or something. She had though and there was no taking it back now.

"You could just tell him how you feel," Alice suggested softly from where she had evidently been standing behind her.

"What if I'm too late?" the other girl asked, hating that her voice sounded so weak.

"You won't be. Frank has been in love with you since he was fourteen years old, that doesn't just go away," Alice said, giving her friend a gentle push.

"Make sure you save me some chocolate just in case this goes badly," Rox said with a resigned sigh.

She picked her way carefully down the stairs, trying to work out her thoughts and what she would say. By the time she reached the common room however, she could not wait any longer and took the boys' staircase two at a time, rushing to get to the seventh year dorm room. She threw the door open and called plaintively for Frank.

"Rox?" he asked, sitting bolt upright from where he had apparently thrown himself onto his bed.

"I'm sorry! I got scared and I panicked and I'm a lousy excuse for a Gryffindor, but I think I'm in love with you," she half yelled the entire thing, not moving from the doorway.

Frank was stunned. He had thought Fred was taking the mickey before, but maybe he had been right. He stared at Rox for a moment, taking in her caramel toned skin and dark, dark hair. Her eyes were his favorite though, she had green eyes that he always teased her about when they were younger, but it was just because he could not get enough of looking at them. Apparently he had been staring for too long though because she started backing out of the room mumbling something about 'just forget it' and he leapt into action. He was not letting her get away with running, not a second time. He jumped from the bed and grabbed her before she could get away again.

"Rox," he breathed, staring into her beautiful cat eyes.

"Yeah?" she asked. He could feel her stuttering breath against his collarbone and her warm skin beneath his hands where they held her hips.

"Don't run away again," he said, hoping she understood what he meant.

"I'll try," she said.

"Good," he said, kissing her forehead lightly and wrapping his arms around her. When he felt her arms wind about him, he felt happier than he had in a while.

By the next evening, Louis was ready to kill someone. Not in a funny, chase them around the common room kind of way either. No one would let up about the stupid Valentine's Day debacle. Maddie was not saying anything about it, but she also was not really talking to him about anything. When he asked her to pass the juice at dinner she barely nodded before handing the jug over. Earlier in the day, he thought she was just tired, but her lethargy had lasted all day and he was starting to worry that she was getting sick. When he asked Danielle on the way to the common room, she just gave him a pitying look before pulling James along to find a broom cupboard somewhere.

"Mads," he called, catching up to the small blonde.

"Yeah?" she asked when he reached her.

"Are you feeling okay? You've been really quiet all day," he said, ruffling his hair with his hand.

"Just peachy," she said before reciting the password and clambering into the room.

Maddie just wanted to sleep. She had not gotten a wink the night before and she was dragging. Even Louis had noticed. If she did not hate taking potions she would have gone for a pepper-up draught early that morning. She found the fallout from those was worse than after too much candy though and tended to stay away. When she saw that the Weasley/Potter crowd was gathered once again at the couches, she plopped herself down on Louis' lap like she would have before the Valentine's Day incident. She felt badly for making him worry and just wanted to snuggle up for a nap.

When the girl dropped into his lap, Louis smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He was always amazed at just how small she was. When Dom shot him a look, Louis just shrugged and allowed his friend so wriggle closer. He often joked that she was like a lizard and needed outside heat sources to keep her warm. Maddie's eyes were closed within seconds and her breathing evened out shortly thereafter.

"So, Louis," Dom started.

"Nothing is going on between us, just let her sleep," he said wearily, not letting his sister say anything else.

"Do you want something to be going on though?" Augusta asked, clearly having about as many compunctions against prying into his life as she did with her brother Frank's.

"I'd say so," James said, walking in with Danielle.

"Potter," Louis growled.

"Weasley, grow a set and ask her out before we all die of old age," James said.

"James, if you don't lay off, I will hex you and I will not care if Danielle is upset that I ruin your face," Louis threatened. He did not get angry very often, but the anger that had been simmering under the surface all day seemed to be about ready to bubble through his generally calm demeanor.

"Lou?" Maddie aske blearily, opening her eyes in confusion.

"Mads, go back to sleep," he said, pressing a light kiss to her hair.

"Okay," she said, wrapping her hand around the fabric of his shirt before drifting off again.

"Louis, you aren't going to hex anyone in this common room. James, stop being a prat and leave them alone. If they want to be thickheaded and waste their lives, that's their problem, not yours," Molly weighed in finally.

The rest of the evening passed quietly, no one wanting to upset the tentative equilibrium that had settled when James and Louis stopped arguing. People started moving off to bed eventually and still, Maddie slept on. She woke up some time around midnight trying to roll over and succeeding in knocking both of them over onto the remainder of the couch.

"Excellent form Mads," he said lightly.

"It's not my fault you're a lumpy pillow," she said with a sleepy grin. She was starting to close her eyes again with both of them lying across the couch and Louis thought better of the situation.

"Mads, we should go to bed," he said softly, keeping her from falling asleep.

"But I want to snuggle," she said with a pout. Louis was always amazed at how different Maddie was when she was tired. Any rough edges she might have while fully awake were gone and in their place was a little puppy who just wanted to be pressed tight against someone. He had made the mistake of telling her that one time while she was fully awake and wound up with a facial mask of chocolate pudding when he woke up the next morning.

"You won't be saying that in the morning," he warned her. They had once been woken up in the common room by their howling friends who had let everyone in Gryffindor tower get a good laugh and Maddie had not been thrilled with the outcome of the day.

"Can I come up to bed with you then?" she said softly, still trying to fall asleep on the couch.

The way Louis saw it, he had three options. The first option was to let her fall asleep on the couch and catch hell in the morning. The second was to levitate her up the stairs and run the risk of having her either fall asleep in the hall at the top or have her squirm and fall while he attempted to move her. Bringing her to his room seemed like a terrible idea that would get him hexed in the morning, but it also seemed like the least potentially damaging option.

"Okay, but you can't get mad at me in the morning," he said.

"Deal," she said, allowing Louis to lift her off the couch and up the stairs.

When Maddie woke up the next morning she was pleasantly warm. She was debating going back to sleep when something in her bed moved. Slowly, she rolled over to pet her roommate's cat. The silly thing was always jumping into her bed with her. Instead, she came face first with Louis. He was still very much unconscious, though he was tugging her closer in his sleep. At first she was surprised, but then the night before filtered back in and she shook her head at her own silliness. When she was drowsy she did the most ridiculous things. After debating getting out of bed, she reconsidered. It was Saturday morning and she was at liberty to sleep in as long as she wanted. That decided, she turned over again and snuggled her back into the warmth of Louis' chest. When his arm snaked around her and held her close, Maddie let out a contented sigh.

Not an hour later, they were both rudely awoken by Frank and James throwing open the curtains of the bed and singing a ridiculous song about beautiful mornings that had a distinctly muggle quality.

"Nicely done Louis," James let out a whistle.

"You too Mads," Frank said with a wink.

"What time is it?" Maddie groaned, sitting up with a stifled yawn. She was glad to be wearing the camisole that she wore under her school uniform and a pair of sweats that Louis had lent her the night before. That should keep the two prats from assuming anything had happened that had not. All hopes of that were dashed when Louis rose without a shirt and rubbed his eyes.

"It is Saturday morning. Those mornings are for sleeping," he grumbled.

"In light of the late night you two had, I'm going to forgive your grumpiness," James said, "Though I've always thought a good shag was supposed to make people agreeable."

"There was no shagging James," Louis said, flopping back down and trying to bury his head behind Maddie's raised torso.

"We'll see you down in the common room. I'd be careful who I spread rumors to in the meantime. You never know what kind of nasty retribution is waiting in store," she said with a grin that spoke of mischief.

When the pair went back down to the common room, their grins could not be contained.

"What are you two looking so happy about?" Danielle asked, "You look like loons."

"We found them both," Frank said happily.

"Both?" she asked cautiously.

"Yup, they were in Louis' bed," James said with a snigger that earned him a raised eyebrow from his girlfriend. Danielle just made a humming noise before taking a seat to wait for their errant friends.

"Well?" James asked expectantly.

"What do you think?" Frank jumped in too.

"I think that Louis had better not screw this up," Danielle said dryly.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"I mean that Mads is the kind of person that throws herself wholeheartedly into something and if he hurts her we're going to have a problem," Danielle said. When the pair had spent the day in the tower, Maddie had explained the irrational jealousy and the feeling like she needed to be physically close to Louis. At the end, she had stared at her hands and admitted that she thought she was in love with her best friend. The poor girl looked distraught at the thought and Danielle had felt bad for her. With James, it had been so easy that she did not really think of it as a problem, but with Maddie and Louis, there was just so much there. Maddie had always been the one that he had gone to for girl advice with the multitudes of females that were lined up to date him. They had been inseparable for the last six years though and knew each other better than anyone else. Danielle thought that would help them figure it out, but only time would tell.

"He's bloody well in love with her," James said, "There's nothing to worry about."

"How do you know though?" Danielle asked.

"You should hear him talking about girls when the ask him out. He compares every single one of them to her. It'd be funny only we've heard it so many times it's just kind of annoying," Frank said helpfully.

"What about Maria?" she asked about the girl that Louis had dated the previous year.

"When Maddie started dating Broderick, Louis was impossible to be around. We finally told him to go find himself a girl and stop being jealous. He shut up pretty fast after that and next thing we knew, he was dating Maria. Not a day after Broderick dumped Mads, he and Maria were over," James said smugly.

"Well then," she said thoughtfully.

After duo left the dormitory, Louis kept his head ducked behind her. Maddie twisted and looked at him with amusement, "Are you going to hide there all day?"

"No, I'm just enjoying not having them here," he said.

"You love those prats, don't be dense," she said with a grin.

"They interrupted a really great dream," he grumbled. Louis was not a morning person.

"What was it about?" she asked, sliding down to join him again.

"I got to wake up with you every morning," he said, wrapping his arms around her again and burying his face in her hair. Maddie could not see his facial expression and was a bit at a loss. Did he mean in this platonic way that they had or had he meant something else?

"Yeah?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah," he said, not removing his arms.

"Lou?" she asked tentatively.

"Mhmm?" he mumbled back into her hair.

"When you say, wake up with me, do you mean in the sense that we're best friends or," she trailed off when he placed a kiss to her ear and another to her cheek. When she was silent he placed one on the tip of her nose and said, "I meant in the sense that I think you may have ruined me for anyone else," before pressing his lips gently to hers.

Maddie felt the blood pounding in her ears and her pulse skittering about. He had barely touched her for Merlin's sake! But then his lips were on hers and all logical synapsis ceased to fire. All that existed was her perfect best friend and the way her stomach was all butterflies. She could feel his palms on either side of her head and her hands winding their way through his thick hair. When the tip of her tongue started tickling the seam of his lips, he growled low in his throat and she felt a thrill go up her spine. Their kiss deepened and she lost herself in the perfect sensation that was her and Louis.

When air started to become an issue, she pulled back slightly. He seemed to be using his oxygen supply more efficiently however because he started a path of kisses down her jaw and down the line of her neck as she made happy little noises that spurred him on. He made his way back to her mouth and they shared one last sweet kiss before they both smiled at each other.

When they finally rejoined the others in the common room, they were both smiling brilliantly and holding hands. When Dom saw them, she raised her eyebrow, she got the response she had been wanting every time she gave them that look in the past two years. Thalia, who was in the common room at the time gave a frustrated screeching noise that made everyone up and stare as she started ripping parchment apart. Louis wrapped his arm around Maddie and decided to depart before Thalia decided to go after something with more bite than paper.


End file.
